Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

248 PietasPietasMinor god. Roman. A sanctuary dedicated to himcirca 191 BC is still in existence in Rome. Hebecame Pietas Augusta and is associated with familysolidarity and patriotism.Pilumnus (staker)Minor guardian god. Roman. Concerned withthe protection of an infant at birth. A ceremonyto honor the deity involved driving a stake intothe ground.PinikirzMother goddess. Elamite [Iran]. Known onlyfrom inscriptions.PISTIS (faith)ORIGIN Gnostic Christian. Primordial female force.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP probably circa 200BC to circa AD 400.SYNONYMS Pistis Sophia.CENTER(S) OF CULT undefined cells in areas ofearly Christian influence.ART REFERENCES none.LITERARY SOURCES Nag Hammadi codices.The exact origin of Pistis is never made clear andthe Nag Hammadi narratives are in places confusedand contradictory. It is, however, an unmistakablyfemale principle typical of most religionsin their concept of the origin of the world. Pistisappears to be a benign female element among theprimordial immortals who ruled before even thecosmos was created. She is closely allied withSOPHIA (wisdom). Pistis appears to have beenformed out of infinity before the “shadow” whichwas to evolve into chaos, and from which the cosmoswould take shape, defined itself within limitlesslight.See also SOPHIA and YALDABAOTH.Pitao CozobiMaize god. Zapotec (classical Mesoamerican)[Mexico]. Worshiped by the Monte Alban cultureof Zapotec-speaking peoples in the Valley ofOaxaca. Sculptures were often adorned with castsof maize ears.PiyusaharanaObscure physician god. Hindu (Epic andPuranic). Identified in the texts as the eighteenthof the thirty-nine minor incarnations of the godVIŠNU; said to be a “carrier of nectar.”PlutoGod of the underworld. Roman. Derived fromthe Greek model of HADES, he abducted thedaughter of CERES, PROSERPINA, to reign as hisqueen. The three-headed dog Cerberus wasset to guard the gate of Hades and throughthe kingdom flowed the two rivers of death, theCocytus and the Acheron which could be crossedonly by the ferryman Charon. According toRoman tradition, the entrance to the underworldwas at Avernus in Rome where the Christianchurch of St. Maria del Inferno was built.See also HADES.PlutosMinor god of riches. Greek. A son of DEMETERwho was abandoned in childhood and reared bythe goddess of peace, EIRENE, who is sometimesdepicted holding him in her lap. Plutos wasblinded by ZEUS because of his discrimination infavor of the righteous.PoeninusMountain god. Romano-Celtic (Continental European).Known locally from the alpine regions andgenerally thought to be assimilated with JUPITER.